How to Train Your Fire Prince
by Dragon-Sigma
Summary: (Or, Why Jinora and Ikki Shouldn't be Matchmakers) Jinora and Ikki decide that General Iroh needs a princess. Asami fits the bill. Hilarity ensues.
1. Chapter 1

_**Jinora and Ikki decide that General Iroh needs a princess. Asami fits the bill. Hilarity ensues.**_

_**(Note: Obviously, this is not very canon. Everybody's back on Air Temple Island in Republic City after Korra's bending was restored. Also, I use the name Honora for Zuko's daughter, who is the current Fire Lord.)**_

"What, a General? Coming here? Like the one in my book who blew up all the sea monsters?" Jinora asked, clutching the book to her chest and staring up at Tenzin with wide eyes.

"Bam! Bam! Sea monsters!" Ikki yelled, punching gusts of air at her father. She paused, thought a moment, then looked up. "He sounds scary!"

Tenzin sighed, and knelt down to calm his daughters. "General Iroh is a good man, girls. He helped defend this city. And I expect you to be very respectful. He is the son of the Fire Lord-"

"He's a PRINCE!?" Ikki squealed, leaping into the air. Jinora dropped her book to clasp her hands together and stare wistfully into space. Pema smiled at her as she walked though the room carrying baby Rohan. Her husband reached out a hand to get her attention, but she was already gone.

Tenzin sighed again, rubbing his head. "Yes, he is a prince. And that's why you must..."

But the two girls had already run off, leaving their father to wonder what sort of chaos this was going to turn into.

Jinora and Ikki's feet barely touched the ground as they half-ran half-flew around the courtyard. The pair spun past Asami Sato's makeshift workshop, where she was dissecting a piece of an Equalist mecha, and waved at her. Asami put down her screwdriver and waved back. Out closer to the pen where the sky bison lived, Mako and Bolin practiced bending techniques Korra had shown them, once Tenzin had convinced her there was some worth to the styles that weren't used in pro-bending.

The Avatar herself had left to greet the General when his ship had been spotted on the horizon, returning from the meeting with the rest of the United Forces leaders. This had been a conference lasting many weeks; Korra had been surprised to learn that even the Fire Lord and current Earth King had been present to discuss counterterrorism measures when she'd returned to Republic City with her bending restored.

The girls circled the courtyard a few more times, leaping over baby sky bison and making funny faces at the meditating Air Acolytes, before running back through the building and tumbling into the library.

"What are we doing?" Ikki asked loudly. An acolyte shushed her from behind a copy of _Postcolonial Life in Yu Dao. _

_"_Sorry!" Ikki said, and jumped down from the table. She floated over to where Jinora was pulling book after book from the shelves.

"I'm looking for a book on princesses!" Jinora answered. Ikki jumped back to avoid being hit by a green-bound volume titled _The Tales of Ba Sing Se._ "Here!"

She blew the dust off a thick book and waved it in Ikki's face. The cover had a picture of an elegant woman with pale hair surrounded by flowing ribbons alongside the title _Princesses through the Ages._

"Why do we need that? Are we trying to find a princess? A pretty princess who lives in a cloud castle in the sky and drinks moonlight every day? Do you think she'll let us live there?" Her sister cut her off, saying, "Not like that, you silly-head! If General Iroh is a prince, he needs-"

"A princess!" Ikki repeated, "But don't we already know a princess? Korra!"

"No, silly," Jinora laughed, "Korra is the Avatar! That's totally different. A princess is a pretty girl who marries a prince! Or another princess, I guess." She flipped through the book, Ikki leaning over her shoulder. "We need to find one for him. He doesn't have one already, right? We better make sure."

"I know a pretty girl! I know a pretty girl!" Ikki squealed, jumping up and down.

"Who's that, Ikki?"

"That inventor lady! Asami!"

Jinora gasped, her eyes going wide. "That might just work!" She jumped up. "Come on, we've got work to do."

"I've got to warn you, things are a bit crazy here," Korra said as she and Iroh approached the Air complex. "We've got Tenzin's family and the Acolytes, but Asami, Bolin, and Mako are also living here. There's not really anywhere else for them to stay right now, not with half the city destroyed and the police still investigating the Sato estate." She looked off into the distance a moment, pushing away other thoughts of the Equalist attack from her mind. Meditation exercises were good for something, at least.

"I understand," Iroh replied, surveying what he could see of the buildings. "Don't worry, I won't get in your way. I just need somewhere to organize security plans and meet with officials."

"No, no, we're glad to help," Korra clarified, waving her hands to emphasize her point. At that moment, Tenzin walked into sight, so the conversation stopped.

"General Iroh, welcome. The meeting was successful, I trust?"

"Very successful, yes. We're making good headway on a functional defense plan."

Tenzin led them inside the main building and into the family's wing of the complex.

"I hear Fire Lord Honora has approved your request to move the United Forces strategy team to Republic City?"

"Yes. She agrees that the Equalists will likely not attack here again, not after their first failure."

They had barely entered the main room when Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo swooped in. The two girls crowded around Korra and Iroh while Meelo hopped up on a globe of air to get a better view. Pema followed behind them, in the rare state of having her hands free after putting Rohan down for a nap.

"Children, please, give him some space," Tenzin said, to no effect.

"Gran-Gran never told me, what happened to your great-grandmother?" Jinora asked the General, giving what she hoped was an endearing smile.

"That's a very interesting story," Iroh began. "Eventually, Fire Lord Zuko..." Jinora grinned wider. Finally, she was going to get answers! But he didn't get any further in the tale before Ikki jumped in.

"Have you ever met pirates? Have you ever fought a sea monster? Do you have a princess? How many ships do you have? Are they made of stardust?"

Jinora scowled and decided it was no use pressing the issue.

"No sea monsters, no pirates," Iroh laughed, good-natured at the girl's interruption. "And no princess, yet," he added.

Jinora and Ikki glanced at each other, eyes lit up with excitement.

"Now then, " Tenzin said, cutting into the chatter. "We have things to do. You can go practice your meditation until we eat." He turned back to Iroh. "You'll be welcome to eat with us, of course." The General nodded politely and thanked him.

Pema took charge. "Meelo, come on, bathtime." She gathered the boy in her arms and carried him out of the room. The two girls fluttered off, a picture of innocence, already hatching romantic plots. Sitting around quietly was the last thing on their minds.


	2. Chapter 2

**This fic is crossposted at Archive of our Own under the name Dragonsigma. **

**AN: A Christmas present, I guess. Sorry I'm so late with this (although it's not like I didn't do other writing; I did add a few characters to A Spirit in Words, if you want to check that out). I have work started on the third chapter, but I have no idea when that might be ready.**

"What's this for?" Ikki asked early the next morning. She flipped the heavy case with a burst of air. It landed on the air cushion Jinora had created, and hovered there above the workshop floor, bobbing up and down as if on a tide. Curls of scrap metal scattered aside as Jinora moved the case with a sweep of her arms.

"I told you, we need to get them together!"

Ikki frowned, puzzled. "So are you gonna build a pretty boat and they can go out on a date together? Or a whistle to summon a flying unicorn they can ride? Or if that doesn't work they could borrow a bison!"

"No, it's way simpler than that," Jinora said with a grin, forgoing the usual exasperated look she'd usually give one of Ikki's stories. She was accustomed to her sister's wild tangents and considering how outlandish they could get, this was rather tame. "See, Asami needs her toolbox to work! So if it's not here, she's gonna go looking for it!"

Ikki squealed happily. "And if we can get her to see the Prince, they'll fall in love at first sight!"

"Exactly," Jinora concluded. "Now get off and help me! I know the perfect place..."

Ikki sighed and jumped down from where she'd been sitting on the case.

Jinora went through a couple more airbending motions and swept the heavy box out of Asami's workshop.

~o~

Asami woke to early-morning sunlight and the sounds of the Avatar practicing airbending outside her window. Korra still had trouble getting the hang of balancing on the swirling air currents, and once again she dropped to the ground with a cry of frustration. She took out her anger on a nearby wall, earthbending globes of rock and smashing them into the surface. Asami caught her attention through the window with a wave, gave Korra a smile, then went off to her side-room to dress.

She was as relieved as the rest of the household that Korra had regained her bending, contrary to how the few remaining Equalist agitators seemed to think all nonbenders felt. Equality, Asami thought, shouldn't mean forcing all people into the same mold. It should mean making sure all people had the same rights. After all, nonbenders certainly weren't useless. There were plenty of crafts where element bending was of little help.

The reformed Republic City Council was, fortunately, not ignoring the nonbenders when it came to rebuilding the city. Tarrlok's abusive laws had been the first to go; the new Northern Water delegate had made sure of that; as had Tenzin. The Council members standing in for the injured Earth and Southern Water delegates had been more reluctant, but had eventually agreed.

Asami, and everyone, only hoped that this restored peace would last.

~o~

She quickly realized her toolbox was missing. It couldn't have been anything malicious, as none of the diagrams had been moved and the partially-deconstructed machines were untouched. Probably a prank by Tenzin's kids; Korra had told her they did that sort of thing. Even Jinora, who normally seemed like a sweet and proper girl. She usually masterminded the tricks. The kids were far from harmless, going by what Lin had told her. Asami liked that. The world wasn't a place for demure and quiet women.

Asami needed the toolbox to work. She'd go to the library and ask the girls where they'd put it.

~o~

The Air Temple library was quiet, as always. Writing desks and tables sat near shelves of neatly filed books and scrolls. Spiritual symbols hung on the walls, some taken from the old temples and some crafted by the acolytes. Tenzin had explained some of the acolytes' way of life to Asami and the others when they first moved here. She knew that Avatar Aang had encouraged the students to study history and philosophy, but also to look forward and be creative. The original Air nomads, she had learned, valued art and games, and weren't always quite as proper as she'd expect from watching Tenzin. She supposed it was very hard to be dull when you could fly with just a breeze and a wooden glider.

Asami glanced around. Nothing here. She wandered deeper into the library, and noticed General Iroh reviewing some papers. Working on a defense plan, she guessed.

Iroh looked up from a neat collection of historical scrolls, notebooks, and official reports. He recognized this woman: Asami Sato, she'd helped him defeat the Equalist inventor's forces. She was beautiful in this light, even more so than usual, with the sun illuminating the contrast between her dark hair and the dusty library shelves.

"Miss Sato," he said. She turned. "Are you looking for something?"

"Just Asami here, I get 'Miss Sato' enough from the police."

There, she saw the case, sitting on a desk and awkwardly half-covered with a few books. So she didn't need to ask the girls after all.

"Asami, then. They're still questioning you?"

"Yeah, I mean, inventor's daughter and all. They want all the information they can get."

She wasn't looking for sympathy, and she didn't want to stay on that subject. Especially not with Iroh, when her father's machines had destroyed his fleet.

"I don't know what those girls think they're doing by hiding my stuff," she commented, brushing the books aside and dragging the heavy case off the table.

"Do you need help with that?"

"Nah, I can handle myself. Didn't grow up around loads of heavy machines for nothing."

"Of course. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. People do that a lot." She set the case on the ground. It didn't seem like the girls had done anything besides move it into the library.

"Then... people should learn not to assume that a beautiful woman isn't also strong."

She smiled at the compliment. He meant it honestly; she had heard enough false ones to know the difference. She pulled out a chair and dropped into it. On the table, she could spot a few sketches of Hiroshi's biplanes among the papers.

"Hey, good job out there taking down those aircraft." She ran a hand through her hair, trying not to think of what those planes could have done if they hadn't been stopped.

Iroh seemed surprised. "Thank you," he said and quickly followed with, "And you've helped just as much- your knowledge of those machines is indispensable."

"I'm pretty good with them, yeah. I just wish I could do more." She looked away, thinking. "I don't like the thought that my father's inventions could be used to kill more people."

She did know more about the workings of those inventions than any but Hiroshi himself, Iroh considered. If that could be used to build defenses, they might yet be able to stop any future Equalist attacks. They should use any resources they had. Amon might have been unmasked- literally- but Iroh and the Republic City leadership did not for a moment think they should let their guard down.

"You could help us," he started, and saw her eyes widen- green, the only sign of her Earth Kingdom heritage. "The United Forces defense team has two technology experts right now, but neither of them know much about the Sato aircraft or the... the piloted suits."

"The mechas," Asami filled in. "The basic construction is nearly identical to any of the industrial vehicles..."

She stopped. Iroh was smiling.

"I'm in. What do you need to know?"

~o~

They talked for a while, Asami occasionally taking one of the diagrams and annotating it with the missing information. There was a lot missing; whoever was drawing the things clearly didn't know exactly how the modified engine worked. Well, that wasn't unexpected; it was an industry secret, after all.

Some time later, a gong rang out from the main Temple building; the call for a meal. Iroh carefully filed the papers into folders and rolled the scrolls.

"We'll continue later, but we've made a good start. The United Forces will be very glad of this information," Iroh said.

"The more we can do, the better," Asami agreed. She heaved the toolbox from the floor and set off, barely suppressing a grin. Not only was she helping protect the city, but she was working with the Fire Prince! She seemed to be developing a habit of running into attractive people.


	3. Chapter 3

Asami walked into the kitchen to find that Jinora had trapped Korra deep in an excited retelling of her favorite story. This, she was quickly learning, was pretty normal for the morning meal. And every other meal, and every other time in the day.

"...and then she took her loyal dragon steed and burned down the entire country! And then, because she couldn't live without her love, she flew into a volcano!" Jinora threw her arms into the air, miming an explosion.

"Uh, sure," Asami said, edging away from the girl. She gave Korra a concerned look.

The Avatar shrugged. "Don't look at me, I've heard it before and I still don't know."

Asami noticed that Iroh had followed behind her, and that he was laughing. She turned to him. "What? Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

"That play?" he said, "It's a very... interesting story. I didn't think it was so popular outside the Fire Nation."

Jinora gasped and stared up at him. "You've seen it!? You're so lucky!" She pouted and flipped her book open, turning away to stare intently at the text.

"She's been begging me to go to Ember Island for years now," Tenzin said, laying down a basket of steamed buns.

"Don't bother," Iroh said, "it's a terrible rendition. My grandfather says they've never gotten it right, even in his day."

"Where's Bolin?" Pema asked as she handed her husband another dish.

"I'm here." Judging by his tired voice, Bolin had just woken up, unlike the acolytes and Tenzin, who rose at dawn every day for meditation. And Korra and Mako, who practiced firebending in the morning. Asami didn't get up that early, but she wasn't lazy either.

"Meelo, get out of there!" Tenzin pulled his son out of a bowl of lychees. The boy grinned at him through a mouthful of the fruit. "And no books while we're eating, Jinora, you know that."

"But Avatar Mu Lan is just about to take down the enemy armies with her earthbending!" Jinora protested.

"Avatar Mu Lan?" Korra sounded puzzled. "I haven't heard of her."

"It's a legend," Tenzin clarified, "And a very good one. It takes place back before the Earth Kingdom was unified. You should read it sometime. But not at mealtime."

Under her father's disapproving glance, Jinora sighed and closed the book. The rest of the family and guests settled themselves down and began eating. While Rohan whined at the rice porridge Pema fed him and Bolin tried to tell exciting stories about old pro-bending matches with his mouth full, Asami chewed on a bit of fried dough (Bolin had requested these) and wondered what she'd gotten herself into. Helping protect the city against another terrorist attack was certainly a good thing. But if an entire conference of national and military leaders could even consider needing her help, then the situation must be bad. And what could she provide? Sure, she knew her way around an engine and she could drive better than most people in the city, but she wasn't an expert on airplanes or bombs. Those had been a secret; her father hadn't told her- She cursed to herself that it still hurt to think of him. He had attacked her friends, her city... it felt so wrong to miss him.

"There's a message for you, sir," a new voice said quietly.

Asami blinked and looked up. The White Lotus guard handed Tenzin a folded telegram form. He thanked her and she promptly disappeared to wherever the guards stayed. Of the others, Korra didn't seem surprised, but then again she had lived with the Order for most of her life.

Tenzin scanned over the paper. "Ah, General, news from Commander Bumi. He's leaving Kyoshi Island and is scheduled to arrive here in about a week." He handed the telegram to Iroh.

Ikki gasped. "Uncle Bumi's coming here again!? Yay!" She leapt up into the air, Meelo following. Jinora stayed put, but she was grinning broadly. Tenzin sighed.

"Yes, girls, he is. But this isn't a family visit- he'll be working with General Iroh on the defense plan. You must not bother them."

"Don't worry, we'll be good," Jinora assured him, but she was already casting a conspiratorial glance at Ikki.

~o~

"They're so cute together!" Ikki said for the seventh time that morning. She threw a handful of flower blossoms into the air, airbending them into a ring. Arri, the bison calf she was supposed to be feeding, batted at them with her tail.

"But they haven't even kissed yet, Ikki! We're not done," Jinora said. She was sitting on her bison's back, brushing her fur. "We need to do something else to keep them together long enough to really fall in love."

"But it's love at first sight! That's enough, right?" Ikki dragged a basket of cabbages over to Arri, who began eating appreciatively.

"Well..." Jinora paused and thought, her brushstrokes slowing until her little bison rumbled for attention. She resumed brushing, patting the animal's head. Eena was impatient for a sky bison, at least when compared to Arri, who happily allowed Ikki to string flowers around her horns, as long as she got some apples in the bargain.

"That's a pretty strong sort of love," she said finally, "But we need to make sure it's working."

"How do we know?"

Figuring that Ikki's only ideas regarding "knowing" would involve fairies and magic spells, Jinora decided more research was needed.

"In my stories, new lovers spend a few days together, then some evil witch attacks and they rescue each other from her clutches!" She mimed swiping claws, making Ikki laugh.

"So we gotta keep them together until then!"

"Exactly. Let's go see how that's going."

The two girls jumped down form the bison, put away the brushes, and headed to the library.

~o~

"The next meeting of the United Forces Defense Council is in two weeks," Iroh said, handing Asami a folder. "Commander Bumi and Chief Bei Fong will be lending their expertise." Lin had been reinstated as police chief on her return to Republic City; Saikhan had been put in charge of most of the reconstruction effort while she led the police to capture criminal Equalists and Triad members.

Asami leaned on the edge of the desk and flipped the folder open. "Do you really think that they're, I mean, that the Equalists are going to attack again?" she asked, looking over the documents: maps of various nearby islands and potential hiding places, diagrams of the first attack, annotated pieces of propaganda.

Iroh looked up at her, seemed to decide to trust her. "We're not sure," he said, "Amon is gone and most of the activity in the city has stopped, but there are still people who agree with him. And there might be groups still planning violence. We must have a working defense system." He paused. "There's been some reports of Equalist groups meeting on some of the Earth Kingdom islands. The problem is making sure they're not planning anything while not angering them further."

"What?"

"People are allowed to hate benders," Iroh said, "Nobody can outlaw that. We just need to hope that the City Council and the governments of the other Nations don't use Amon's attack as an excuse to repress nonbenders. That would make things worse."

Asami was impressed; she hadn't expected a military leader -and firebender- to think so deeply on the politics of the situation.

"You're right. I've heard from Tenzin that that's a main concern right now. You heard what Tarrlok tried to do, right?"

"Yes. Korra told me about that. That can't happen again."

Asami was about to reply when a set of scrolls tumbled off the top of a high shelf. She looked up to see the two little airbenders clinging to the back of the shelf, peering over the top. Evidently they'd been using air globes to climb the shelf. Jinora gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry! We were just..."

"Looking for the history!" Ikki finished for her, grabbing at a scroll. She flipped over the shelf and floated to the floor, holding the paper in both hands. "Bye!" she called as the she and her sister ran off.

"I thought Tenzin told them to leave you alone. I'll talk to him later." Asami said, a bit puzzled by the turn of events.

"They're not hurting anything... but I don't think they should be watching. The United Forces takes security very seriously."

"Can't be too secure if you're letting me see," Asami joked.

"That's different... you can provide, I mean, you are-"

Asami laughed. "Hey, it's no big deal."

They returned to working, not hearing the girls giggling from just out of sight.


	4. Chapter 4

"How's the super-secret defense planning going?" Korra asked, her words partially drowned out by the sound of cracking wood as her rock slammed neatly into a target. She lifted a few more fist-sized boulders from the ground, let them hover in an arc in front of her for a moment, then flung them at the target, turning it into a pile of rock and splintered wood.

"Pretty good so far," Asami replied, "Although it's not really 'super-secret.' Aren't they keeping you updated? You _are_ the Avatar."

"Yeah, when they get anything finalized. I think it's too _slow._" She demolished another target.

"Tenzin's told me to listen to the spirits and see how it's working out. I figure if the spirits are that unhappy, they'll come to me."

The last of the targets collapsed under a barrage of stones. Korra dusted off her hands, then, with a smooth motion of her arms, pulled the boulders back into neat piles.

"Nice work," Asami commented, impressed. A small storm of applause broke out from behind the storage shed, only to stop when the two women turned to look at the young airbenders hiding there. A few sheepish grins, a whirlwind, and they were gone.

"Huh." Asami paused for a moment before asking Korra, "Have Jinora and Ikki been acting... weird lately?"

"What, weirder than usual?" Korra smiled. "They're just crazy kids, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

A bell in the Air Temple rang out the time. "I've got to go, " Asami told Korra, "Iroh wants me in his meeting with Chief Bei Fong."

"Heh, good luck with that. She's a tough woman to deal with."

~o~

The Chief of Police did not sound impressed with the folder of papers she tossed down on the table in front of her. "And?" she demanded, "How are my officers supposed to put this into effect?"

"It's pretty well arranged, Chief Bei Fong," Asami said, reaching across the table and dragging the folder to her. She flipped it open and pulled out a sheet marked with the United Defense Force seal. "Here's the summary. You'll set up officers at these areas and transport locations-"

"I know how it works." Lin interrupted. "What I need to know it how you plan to _pay_ for all this. Surveillance isn't cheap, and I need to give my officers proper salaries for this extra work."

Iroh answered that. "The United Defense Force is supplying funds from a joint grant offered by the Fire Lord and Earth King. You'll have enough to prevent any complaints, and to keep the equipment in function."

"Hmm... Very well, I'll accept this. I'll report back on effectiveness in two months."

"Agreed, ma'am. We should have more intel by then as well." Iroh said, and saluted her, earning a small smile from the stern woman, who returned the gesture. Lin gathered up the files and tucked the folder into a bag.

She walked out of the room, and Asami turned to Iroh and said, "I think that's a success."

"I couldn't have done it without you," he responded. And though Asami couldn't have said why, she felt like she was glowing with pride.

~o~

"Where are my little airbenders?" a familiar voice boomed, and the three children giggled from behind the wall as their father tried not to show his exasperation.

"Uncle Bumi!" the kids chorused, running into the room and leaping up on the man. He laughed and kissed their heads, and pulled candies from one of his uniform's many pockets.

"Yay! Food!" Meelo cheered, winning a laugh from Jinora.

"And how is the little one doing?" Bumi asked Pema, who had just entered with Rohan bundled in her arms.

"Very well, thank you!" The Commander ruffled the baby's hair, and the boy blinked at him before deciding this was funny, and laughing.

Later, after much food and laughter and hugs supplemented by occasional exasperated glances from their father, the two girls took Bumi into the library, telling him they had a surprise. Jinora explained the situation, with Ikki interjecting comments here and there. Their uncle thought for a moment.

"I knew that boy would find someone eventually," he said, moslty to himself, then continued to the girls, "So you've got a couple that are perfect for each other and need some help realizing it? I think I've got just the thing."

~o~

Asami was soldering the last wires into a mecha's hood when Ikki ran up to her with an urgency she didn't normally see in the little airbender.

"Asami! Asami!" the girl shouted, "You gotta follow me, Iroh's in danger!"

At this, Asami nearly dropped the iron. Iroh, in danger? What could it possibly be that he couldn't deal with himself? And how could she help? But she followed Ikki anyway, determined to give whatever she could.

Jinora's cry for help pulled Iroh away from his reading. What was going on? An attack? Was that Asami's name she was calling, was Asami in trouble? Anything that could threaten the fearless mechanic must be serious.

"What's happening?" he called out, pushing away a growing fear, falling into the combat mentality he knew so well. He turned to run to find Asami, dropping the scrolls from his hands.

Yet out in the courtyard, he found nothing but two young airbenders, hands cupped around their mouths to yell warnings about nothing. He had to stop short to avoid running headlong into Asami herself. The next few moments were a confused jumble of talking over each other, trying to calm each other, and corroborating stories until the pieces fell into place and they both turned to look at Jinora and Ikki, who were staring at the pair and making little effort to hide their gleeful laughing.

A peculiar sort of anger replaced Iroh's fear. He glared towards the girls, who quickly fell silent.

"Jinora, Ikki," he said, voice stern as he'd heard from his mother and grandfather so many times, "That was completely irresponsible, and more than that, dangerous. You shouldn't make false alarms, somebody could be hurt! I'd have expected you to know better than that." He would have continued, had the girls' uncle not spoke up at that moment.

"Hey, no harm done!" Bumi said. "Just a little joke. My idea. Consider it a practice drill."

"Fine, then. But still, it was unsafe." The young general couldn't think of anything else to say. Somehow, the fact that Asami was safe felt far more important than anything else.

~o~

"Now they just need a little push..." Bumi said to the girls later, as the three celebrated their success over steaming cups of tea.

~o~

"You really do love her, don't you?" Mako said, casually, while he and Iroh practiced firebending forms. They were out by the bay, as to not alarm the young bison or disturb any of the acolytes. Iroh finished the motion before he fully heard what Mako was saying.

"What?" He paused in surprise.

"I've seen the way you look at her. It's pretty obvious. I just wanted to say, she'd be great for you. I mean, I think it's a good match." He went back to his forms as if nothing had been said.

Asami? She was an incredible woman: talented, clever, beautiful, not afraid to face her fears or fight for justice. He had found himself wanting to spend more and more time with her over these past few weeks. Did he love her? He tried to imagine bringing her home to the Fire Nation and his family, kissing her, living with her, and found that he could imagine nothing better.

"You should go tell her, then," Mako told him, "She'd like that."

Iroh decided he would go see Asami. It wasn't too long before they had planned to meet to work a on report, maybe he could set things up early.

~o~

Jinora found Asami preparing for the next United Forces report, pulling books of glider plans from the library shelves.

"Asami! Your boyfriend is hot!" she said, leaning over to see what Asami was reading.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend..." Asami replied automatically.

Jinora feigned innocence. "He's not? Well, I think he should be," she said, and drifted out of the room before Asami could respond, leaving her to think.

Boyfriend? Did she love him?

He treated her like a person, not like a flower to be protected or an object to be possessed. Not at all like the countless men who had thrown themselves at her in the past, eager for the fame of dating the inventor's heiress, or sometimes, to get their hands on her father's industry secrets. Some just decided they wanted her, and wouldn't back off. She had a lot of practice fighting off unwanted advances. Asami Sato wasn't nearly as helpless as most people assumed. And she'd met a man who understood that, met a man who knew she could fight evil just as well as any male, who appreciated her skills and saw her for who she was. And for all that he was the Prince of the Fire Nation, working with him felt like working with an equal. Yes, maybe she loved him. Did he love her? She desperately wished he did. But she couldn't know unless she said something... and she knew when to say it.

~o~

Their work, it seemed, had paid off. The reports were finished and filed, the latest correspondence from the United Forces had been approving. Asami always took courage from success.

"So, when we're done with this," she asked Iroh as they cleared the last scrolls and folders from the library table, "do you want to come to dinner with me?"

"What?" Iroh looked up, then back at his paper, and Asami could swear he was blushing.

"There's a nice little Fire Nation-style place in the city. Got all the best stuff. I love their fire-flake shrimp."

"Sounds like a perfect idea." He smiled, and Asami knew this was just what she wanted.


End file.
